UAE court jails 56 for coup plot; 26 acquitted

Abu Dhabi , July 2, 2013

A United Arab Emirates court on Tuesday convicted most of 94 Emiratis charged with plotting a coup, Abu Dhabi television said, at the end of trial.

The television said that the Federal Supreme Court sentenced 56 suspects to prison sentences ranging between three and 10 years. Eight suspects were sentenced in absentia to 15 years in jail and another 26 were acquitted.

Witnesses said that police blocked roads outside the court in Abu Dhabi and kept reporters away from the building.

Dozens of people have been detained in a crackdown on Islamists in the past year amid heightened worries among officials about a spillover of unrest in other Arab countries.

The defendants had denied the charges, and some said they had been abused in detention, an accusation the state denies. - Reuters